Buhay Buhangin (series #1)

On Lunar and Lunacy

Everything has a natural explanation. The moon is not a god, but a great rock, and the sun a hot rock. - Anaxagoras

The moon is a fascinating object. Its gender classification is a “she” because of her beauty and mysterious nature. In olden times men considered it god, like Luna, goddess of the moon. A lot of words where extracted from it like “lunacy”. I don’t know why a person with an abnormal conduct is akin to this huge rock. Maybe because of what the moon does to tides. Like a tide, a lunatic also manifest sudden burst of insanely behavior.

In the Middle East, where symbolisms abound, the moon has its proper place. One can see it in national flags of Islamic nations. It’s on top of every mosque and Red Crescent (similar to Red Cross), has it as its logo. Except for dental clinics, which use a giant molar, every hospital and pharmacy is represented by it.

She’s so highly regarded that they still based their calendar from it. Unlike the Gregorian calendar, which is based on solar cycle, Hejira calendar is based on lunar cycle. It has 12 months but has shorter days per month. Ten days difference in one Gregorian year. The kingdom have an official “moon watcher” who, by the shape of the moon, tells authorities if it’s the end of the month (especially during the holy month of Ramadan) or the end of the year. I wonder what these officials do if it’s cloudy and could not see the new moon.

Hejira calendar with its corresponding dates in Gregorian.

This method of counting time has its pros and cons. When dealing with government agencies, our company uses Hejira. But we use Gregorian in our internal affairs. It’s advantageous for government workers since their salary is based on shorter months. It’s profitable for apartment owners since they based rental fee on a shorter year. It’s disadvantageous for me since my wage is based on Gregorian, compounded by the fact that rental dates are always moving every year. I have to shell out rent money because our housing allowance is also based in Gregorian.

Some people find this kind of system lunatic. For me it’s a culture thing and I’ve learned to live with it.

Educating Bea

No sacrifice was too great to forward our education and, fortunately, books and the tradition of study were not unknown in our family. - Sidney Altman

Today is the first day my daughter goes to school. She’s attending nursery in one of the international schools managed by Filipinos. It’s not cheap, her tuition fee plus “blah blah fees” are equivalent to enrolling your child to an exclusive nun-supervised kindergarten in Manila. I just hope they have the same standard of teaching.

I don’t know who is more excited, the child or the mother. My wife woke up around 5:30 while my daughter and I are still sleeping. Preparing everything her daughter needs, from her lunch to her extra clothes and towel. Teary-eyed pa when she was dressing up our daughter. Anak nang tupa, nursery lang e, melodramatic na itong misis ko. How much more kaya kung aakyat na yan to receive her college diploma. Baka mag lupasay na.

I have to adjust too. Since I have to bring my “mag-ina” to school and back, I have to wakeup earlier than I use to do, to avoid heavy traffic during school days. Doble-talo. Pagod ka na, butas pa ang bulsa. But I’ll do anything when it comes to my daughter’s education. Kahit ipang-utang ko pa, just to ensure my child’s future. Any responsible parent knows that.

Now I know the real meaning behind what my Mom used to say to us “Makakabawi na kami nang Daddy mo pag meron na kayong sariling anak”.